


these old country lanes

by mohritz



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Asexual Jughead Jones, M/M, Relationship(s), and tries to tell archie, betty is a Supportive Friend, jughead hates pda, pop's
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-28 03:51:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10070114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mohritz/pseuds/mohritz
Summary: Jughead isn’t sure he can do this.He’s in a booth at Pop’s, laptop open in front of him. He’s been trying to write the same sentence for five minutes, but he keeps getting distracted every time the door opens and a new customer walks in.





	

**Author's Note:**

> HELLO this was a way of channeling my lowkey dislike of pda into a fic so Here You Go
> 
> in this jughead is living with archie because #givejugheadahome Honestly
> 
> enjoy !

Jughead isn’t sure he can do this.

He’s in a booth at Pop’s, laptop open in front of him. He’s been trying to write the same sentence for five minutes, but he keeps getting distracted every time the door opens and a new customer walks in.

The smell of cooking food is familiar: it makes him realise how much he treats this place as a second home. At the opposite end of the diner, he can see Kevin and Betty having a heated conversation over a shared milkshake. Betty catches his eye, giving him a little wave and a grin, and he smiles awkwardly in response.

Biting his nails, he turns his gaze to the window. The weather is pitiful: grey, drizzling, and Jughead would usually have a field day with his writing in these conditions. They seem to fuel his creativity. However, today is a little different.

Today he’s going to attempt to have A Talk with Archie.

They’ve been ‘dating’, or whatever it is they’re doing, for a few months – ever since Jughead moved into Archie’s spare room. It was all well and good at first. Archie knows Jughead’s asexual, knows his boundaries and what he’s comfortable with. He’s been great at respecting that.

What he hasn’t been so good at, to say the least, is understanding Jughead’s strong hatred of public displays of affection.

 Jughead doesn’t mind kissing when they’re in the privacy of Archie’s living room, the action movie on the television long forgotten in favour of something much more interesting. He doesn’t mind when they’re sitting with Betty in a booth at Pop’s, having a conversation about last week’s algebra homework, and Archie takes his hand under the table – he trusts Betty with his life, and besides, he’s comfortable there. It’s a little different, though, when Archie does anything affectionate in the middle of the corridors of Riverdale High.

He’s tried to bring it up before, he has, but he can’t seem to put it into words. One Saturday afternoon, after a long talk with Betty during which she urged him to bring it up, he was walking home with Archie after their regular trip to Pop’s. When he’d finally figured out how to approach the subject, they’d reached Archie’s house, and the boy in question excused himself quickly to go and work on his music. Jughead had been left, confused and frustrated, to wonder about how the conversation might have gone should he have brought it up earlier.

He hopes today will be different.

The bell above the door of the diner rings to signal a customer, and Jughead looks up to see the eager smile of Archie. He’s out of breath, obviously having rushed to the diner after his practice, and the sight of him makes Jughead’s stomach start doing backflips. He sort of hates it, but then again, Archie’s always had this effect on him.

“Hi,” he says, letting his mouth curl up into a smirk, mainly to hide his nerves. “You’re late.”

“By five minutes,” Archie rolls his eyes, sliding into the booth opposite Jughead. “Coach had us do a couple extra drills.”

“Ooh, did you have to do those weird throwing and catching exercise things?” Jughead raises an eyebrow.

“Jughead, throwing and catching is literally all football is. That’s the game.”

“Eh, sports are all the same to me. Anyway: not good enough. I’m expecting you to be on time in future.”

“Okay, jeez,” Archie grins, reaching over the table to tuck a stray curl back into Jughead’s hat. He tries not to flinch at the contact, and looks around, despite the two of them being out of sight of most of the other customers. It’s likely more to do with the conversation they’re about to have than the action itself, he thinks.

Archie’s gaze turns into one of concern, and he pulls back to look at Jughead. “Everything okay?”

“I need to talk to you about something,” he blurts out. He’s done it now, he can’t take it back, and for that he’s almost relieved.

“Okay?” Archie’s voice is confused, and he sounds a little worried.

“It’s nothing that bad, I promise, I just wanted to talk to you about it.”

“Sure, Jug. What’s up?”

When Jughead looks up, he sees Betty looking over. Somehow, she seems to know what the conversation is about, and she gives him an encouraging smile and a nod. It gives him the confidence to continue, and he takes a deep breath before speaking.

“You know how we’ve talked about boundaries and stuff before?”

“Did I cross a line?” Archie’s eyes widen, and Jughead is quick to reply.

“No, no – well, sort of? But it’s not like I ever mentioned it before, so you wouldn’t have known…” he trails off, unsure of how to continue.

“I never want to make you uncomfortable, Jug,” Archie says gently. “Go on.”

Jughead smiles, albeit a little hesitantly, before continuing. “I guess I’m just not that keen on physical contact in public?”

Archie frowns a little in confusion. “Okay – could you elaborate a little? Just so I know, like, specifics.”

“I don’t know, really,” Jughead shrugs. “Just kisses and holding hands and stuff. Where other people can see.”

“Okay. That make sense.” Archie is nodding, and Jughead sinks back into the booth in relief.

“Thanks,” he says awkwardly. “For, uh, understanding.”

“Of course!” Archie responds. “If you ever need to talk to me about something, don’t be afraid to. I’m always here.”

Jughead nods, smiling a little. “Yeah. I know.”

They fall into a comfortable silence, which Jughead inwardly smiles at. He likes that they know each other well enough to not have to fill every gap in conversation. Just Archie’s company is enough for him.

A few minutes later, Betty and Kevin come over, and Archie moves to slide into the booth next to Jughead so they can sit down. He feels something touch his hand under the table, feather light, and looks up to see Archie’s tentative gaze on him. He nods, smiles, and wraps his hand around his boyfriend’s.

Whilst he doesn’t like public displays of affection, he does love Archie.

**Author's Note:**

> title is from castle on the hill by ed sheeran, purely because I LOVE IT and his album came out today and it's honestly really really good. anyway


End file.
